Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Shares Sold by Heartland Advisors Inc.

Heartland Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 15.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,611 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,858 shares during the quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $2,981,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Alerus Financial NA lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Alerus Financial NA now owns 54,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,836,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058 shares during the last quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC now owns 5,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $780,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Slagle Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Slagle Financial LLC now owns 14,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,029,000 after acquiring an additional 644 shares during the period. denkapparat Operations GmbH purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson during the fourth quarter worth approximately $911,000. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,422,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,719,000 after acquiring an additional 155,308 shares during the period. 69.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus raised Johnson & Johnson to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Leerink Partners decreased their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $182.00 to $169.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson & Johnson

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,357,552.70. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

JNJ opened at $163.63 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $158.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $156.21. The stock has a market cap of $394.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $140.68 and a 1-year high of $169.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $22.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a return on equity of 34.24% and a net margin of 18.20%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 74.59%.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

Johnson & Johnson is a holding company, which engages in the research, development, manufacture, and sale of products in the healthcare field. It operates through the Innovative Medicine and MedTech segments. The Innovative Medicine segment focuses on immunology, infectious diseases, neuroscience, oncology, cardiovascular and metabolism, and pulmonary hypertension.